50 iOS 7 Features You Must Now

Apple announced a major iOS 7 redesign, with countless iOS 7 features that are rolling out in the iOS 7 beta today.

There are hundreds of new iOS 7 features, but you won’t care about every single thing that’s new in iOS 7. You can check out a dozen new iOS 7 features on Apple, but there are many more iOS 7 features that Apple tucked inside descriptions, quickly flashed on slides or glossed over during the iOS 7 announcement.

These “hidden” iOS 7 features join the major items announced on stage to make up the 50 iOS 7 features you will actually use and care about.

50 iOS 7 Features You’ll Actually Use

Control Center in iOS 7 replicates some jailbreak features and makes it easier to change settings.

1. Control Center – In iOS 7 Apple adds a Control Center, which allows users to swipe up from the bottom of any screen for access to toggling WiFi, Do Not Disturb, Brightness, controlling music playback, AirPlay and more. There’s also a flashlight built-in and shortcuts to apps.
2. Swipe to Go Back - When in Safari or other apps, if you need to go back, don’t bother looking for the back button, swiping in from the left will go back.
3. Scrolling App Folders - The new app folders in iOS 7 aren’t limited to a few apps. If you want to put all your games into a folder you can now do that and scroll through apps in a folder.
4. Better Sharing Menu - The new iOS 7 sharing menu includes a scrollable list of apps and other iPhones to make sharing photos and more simpler.
   

   Share faster with a new sharing menu in iOS 7.
5. Great New Look - Apple changed the look of IOS, from the font and dock up to the status bar at the top of the iPhone. This is a brand new look that many users are already excited to try out.
6. New Multitasking With Previews – The new iOS 7 multitasking uses the full size of the iPhone 5 display to let users see what’s going on in apps. Users can also swipe up to kill an app, instead of long pressing on it.
   

   The new iOS 7 multitasking offers large previews and easy access to closing apps.
7. Siri Voice Options – In iOS 7 Siri offers a new female voice and a male voice for the first time.
8. More Control of iPhone with Siri – Siri can now control more of the iPhone. In the demo Siri on iOS 7 controlled brightness, returning calls and controlling iRadio.
   

   Siri can do much more in iOS 7.
9. iOS 7 Looks Change to Match Your Background – When you change the background of the home screen, elements of the IOS system will change to match the colors. This includes the dialer and other parts of iOS 7.
   

   In iOS 7 parts of the system change based on your background color.
10. New Camera App – iOS 7 features a new Camera app that includes faster access to panorama, a new look and much more.
11. Live Camera Filters - If you like Instagram, the new square photo option and live filters will be at the top of your favorite iOS 7 features list.
    

    A new camera app comes with iOS 7, with several new features.
12. Photos App That Sorts By Location – The new Photos app knows where you took photos and sorts them by location making it easier than looking through an endless stream of photos.
13. Tap and Scroll to Search for Photos – If you want to find a specific photo, tap and hold to scroll through thumbnail previews.
14. iCloud Video Sharing – iCloud will now support sharing videos. A great feature when you don’t want to share on YouTube or Facebook.
15. iCloud Photo Sharing Activity View – See what friends are sharing in a Facebook like feed of new photos and videos shared to a Photo Stream.
16. iPhone Theft Deterrent – In addition to Find My iPhone, iOS 7 makes it impossible to activate a stolen iPhone if it is still tied to your user ID.
    

    The new iOS 7 Photos app makes finding photos easier.
17. iCloud Keychain – iCloud will now sync passwords, credit card info and WiFi networks to all OS X Mavericks and iOS 7 devices.
18. iTunes Radio - iTunes Radio is a new way to listen to music in iOS 7. Pick a genre or create a station form your favorite artist like on Pandora, but gain Siri control.
    

    iTunes Radio comes in iOS 7 with streaming stations that are ad-free for $25 a year.
19. One Bar on Safari – Safari gets a new look on iOS 7 and finally sees a single bar at the top to enter addresses and searches.
20. More than 8 Safari Tabs At Once – On iOS 7 users can open more than 8 tabs in Safari at once. Finally.
    

    Safari in iOS 7 features a single bar and a new look.
21. Notification Center On Lock Screen – Users can now access the Notification Center on the lock screen.
22. Synced Notifications – Notifications will sync between OS X Mavericks and other iOS 7 devices to make sure you don’t see notifications twice.
23. Today Mode – A new mode shows today’s weather, appointments and other info at a quick glance.
    

    The iOS 7 Notification center is on the lock screen.
24. Smarter App Updates – iOS 7 groups app updating to save battery life, essentially batching multiple app updates and preferring WiFi.
25. Automatic App Updates – iOS 7 also includes automatic app updates, so you won’t have to tap update all in the App Store.
26. 

    AirDrop simplifies file sharing.
    AirDrop – Simple, wireless sharing to iPhones and iPads nearby without the need to upload to a service or all be on the same WiFi network.
27. Shared Links in Safari – See every link posted by your Twitter friends in one location with easy access to reading.
28. Popular Apps Near Me – Find apps that relate to what you are doing, such as apps popular at a museum or at a beach.
29. Better Business Support - Enterprise Single Sign On arrives in iOS 7, which might help your company say goodbye to BlackBerry.
30. Siri Can Search Better – Search Bing, Wikipedia and Twitter right from Siri,
31. Smarter Weather App – The weather app shows more weather information without the need to go to Yahoo where they try to change your search engine.
32. iCar Integration – Starting with select 2014 models, the iPhone display will basically AirPlay to the dash offering access to the iPhone apps and features.
    

    In iOS 7 the iPhone will connect to the dash systems on many 2014 model cars.
33. Block Calls, Messages and Facetime – iOS 7 now includes built-in support to block calls, messages and FaceTime calls from anyone. No third-party apps needed.
34. Facetime Audio – Make FaceTime Audio calls on WiFi for better sound than a cell phone call. Perfect for calling friends on AT&T.
35. Support for Game Controllers – iOS 7 brings support for Made for iPhone game controllers, which is huge for iPhone gaming.
36. 60 Frame Per Second Video Capture – Capture video at high speed on the iPhone. This feature may be limited to the iPhone 5.
37. Enhanced Parental Control – Guided Acces API opens up support for apps to tie into Apple’s iOS controls, which could lead to a better Kid’s mode for the iPhone and iPad.
38. Send Apple Maps To Your iPhone – OS X Mavericks will send Maps details to your iPhone or iPad for simplified sharing between your devices.
    

    Apple Maps in Mavericks can send info to the iPhone or iPad.
39. No More Waiting for Updates on Notifications – Apps will load the notification pushing an alert so you don’t need to wait after opening Facebook to see the updates.
40. Smart Calendar – The new Calendar app factors in time to commute, weather, businesses nearby and more. And it comes with a new look.
41. Kids App Section – Apple now includes a kids section on the app store that makes finding age appropriate apps easier.
42. Per App VPN – In IOS 7, users can now set up VPN use on an app-by-app basis. Big news for security minded users or business users.
43. Smart TV Episode Downloading – Apple didn’t dive into the details of this, but we assume it means when you finish watching an episode it will start downloding the next.
44. Do Not Track in Safari – Safari now supports Do Not Track mode for users that don’t want advertisers to track them.
45. Turn By Turn Walking Directions – There are now walking directions built-in to Apple Maps in iOS 7. Walk on!
46. Scan to Add a Passbook – Users can now scan barcodes with the PassBook app to add a new Pass, making it easier to add a pass from a business or the web.
47. Night Mode for Maps – iOS 7 not offers a night mode for Maps that tones things down when driving at night, a great feature for users that mount the iPhone on a dash.
    

    Pull down to access Spotlight from any iOS home screen.
48. Fast Access to Spotlight – Pull down on any home screen to search the iPhone with Spotlight. No need to tap or swipe all the way to the left.
49. Automatic WiFi Connections to Save Data Usage – iOS 7 supports WiFi Hotspot 2.0 which should help the iPhone automatically connect to a partner WiFi network like AT&T or Verizon hotspots when you are traveling, saving on data usage.
50. Apple Maps Bookmark Syncing - Apple Maps bookmarks will now sync between the iPhone, iPad and OS X Mavericks so your favorite places are always at hand.

The iOS 7 release is set for this fall, likely timed with an iPhone 5S release. The iOS 7 beta is available today for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. Apple is preparing an iOS 7 beta for the iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2 and iPad mini. Not all devices will recieve the same features.